The Oak February 2025
Welcome to the first issue of The Oak for 2025. We are looking forward to an exciting and productive year ahead.
After a very successful tenure, Caroline Johnson has tendered her resignation as ACORN Board Chair. Fortunately for the board and our community, Caroline has agreed to stay on and continue supporting us in the exciting new ventures we have planned for 2025. I am very grateful for this and the support she has provided me in taking on this role.
I would like to take this opportunity to formally acknowledge the wonderful job Caroline has done. Her hard work, dedication and amazing leadership has been vital to ACORN moving forward, supporting our members and building relationships with colleagues and industry partners as we work towards our goals.
Do you want to participate in the planning and organisation of ACORN conferences?
ACORN conferences and Perioperative Nursing Week are highlights of the perioperative calendar. We are seeking expressions of interest from members who would like to join our Events Committee.
Please submit your expression of interest before 23 March 2025.
Save the date
The ACORN annual general meeting (AGM) will be held on Saturday 28 June. Time to be confirmed.
Tracy Kerle
ACORN Board Chair
Last week was International PeriAnaesthesia Week 2025 (IPAW25), a time to honour the incredible work of nurses in pre-anaesthesia and post-anaesthesia care, ambulatory surgery and pain management. These professionals are passionate about providing exceptional care to patients and families, and IPAW25 is a chance to shine a light on their dedication and expertise.
ACO
RN G.A.S. Awards
A key feature of IPAW is the ACORN G.A.S. Awards, which recognise outstanding nurses who guide, are approachable, and possess the special gift of seeing what often goes unnoticed. We received many nominations for these prestigious awards and are pleased to announce that the winner of the IPAW25 ACORN G.A.S. Award is Margaret (Maggie) Marshall from Peels Campus, Western Australia.
The IPAW poster and bunting were available for download from our website to hang in break rooms or corridors to show support for IPAW. Fun activities held during the week to bring staff together and celebrate included:
- Pin the needle to the space
This activity, a twist on ‘pin the tail on the donkey’, had staff blindfolded and attempting to place a syringe cutout on the correct spinal insertion site. The closest placement won. - Find the ACORNs
Staff were challenged to spot the ten hidden acorns in the operating room with an activity sheet.
Various posters and cutouts were available for download for these activities.
We came together to celebrate the amazing work of perianaesthesia nurses and continued to support one another in advancing the profession.
Coordination of procedural equipment and supplies for the surgical set-up in the perioperative environment: A scoping review
Melanie Lang, Jed Duff and Judy Munday
Comparison of the effect of surgical site skin preparation with povidone-iodine antiseptic at two different temperatures on the microbial load and surgical site infection in laparotomy patients: A randomised controlled trial
Diba Nikkhah Dashtizadeh, Fardin Amiri, Sedigheh Hannani, Mojgan Oshaghi and Nemamali Azadi
Emotional Intelligence education for perioperative nurses
Erin Wakefield and Tara Rogers
Improving communication components of the surgical safety checklist in the perioperative setting
Samantha Jolly and Andrea Carrick
NSW OTA State Conference
Friday 14 March, Sydney Olympic Park
ACORN Annual General Meeting
Saturday 28 June
VPNG State Conference
8–9 August, Pullman Melbourne
